Maria Bobroff Presents at Conference

Associate Professor of French Maria Bobroff presented at the annual conference of the American Association of Teachers of French in Saguenay, Quebec, on July 11.

The presentation, “Teaching Kim Thúy’s ru in the College Classroom,” examined pedagogical tools for incorporating the author’s autobiographical work into a university class focused on the Francophone (read non-Hexagon) world.

Hailed as the first Quebecois author of Vietnamese heritage, Kim recounts the experiences of boat people: life in Vietnam during the war, the harrowing escape across the sea and resettlement in the Americas.

Through short vignettes, she leads the reader through memories both charming and heart-wrenching. In the process, she offers a unique perspective for studying Quebecois and Vietnamese cultures.

For her fiction début, Kim won the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award in 2010.